Question about S&W Aluminum guns.....

[rwsmith]

I THINK maybe I read about some ordinary aluminum guns by S&W (for air crews?) that had problems with cracking. Was this true and are all guns since made out of Scandium alloy rather than 'plain' aluminum?

Is there any chance that I could buy a lightweight gun that is not Scandium made after 1959 or 60?

Thanks for de help.

 

[D Brown]

I believe a lot of the Lightweight /Airweight Smiths are constructed without the Scandium Alloy treatment. I'm thinking the only ones with the Scandium Alloy will have the atomic symbol for Scandium imprinted somewhere on the sideplate. I could be wrong of course.

 

[Old TexMex]

Scandium wasn't alloyed with AL until the 70's, and so it's safe to say any Airweight 37 or 38 or anything else in the world of firearms will be SC free if it's not touted as "Scandium" and more than, say, 40 years old...
Are you allergic to the rare earth metal?

Airweights have been favorites of mine for many years, I've shot them a lot, I've not yet had one crack, even though I've put some higher pressure stuff through a couple of them. The cylinders are steel, the frames Aluminum alloy ( not Sc....probably aluminum/magnesium alloy)

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

here is some food for thought:

I had a roommate in the early 80's that had been the materials purchaser for Boeing Military Aircraft in Wichita. He tells me that there were over 10,000 different aluminum alloys (in the 1970's) and each one has a different set of characteristics as well as different price!

The Aluminum Alloy guns came into mass production in the early 1950's I have or did own Model 37's and Model 12's from first year production as well as later production. If the ammo they are rated for is used, they have lasted all this time. I have Sig 220's in 45 and never seen a frame fail. I built 1911's on Federal Ordnance alloy frames, they usually failed at around 800 rounds of ball ammo! (Wrong alloy!)

What alloy are AR uppers and Lowers made from? It seems to hold up pretty well, I saw X-15 lowers still in rebuilt use in the early 90's, and shooting fantastic groups with green tip ball ammo!

Ivan

 

[pharmer]

Here's a post from a forum expert that maybe answers your question. Joe
http://smith-wessonforum.com/s-w-hand-ejectors-1896-1961/313933-aircrewman-revolvers-print.html

 

[rwsmith]

Thanks, I'm gathering that.....

Model 38s, for instance, have steel cylinder and barrel and an aluminum frame and make no reference to Scandium. All of the aluminum framed models of that series are only chambered for .38 spec. That does seem to put Scandium as an innovation in the 70's.

I think that my 5943 is alloy (Scandium) frame with a SS slide.

Interesting note: Famous picture of a Smith and Wesson.

Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, South Vietnam's chief of National Police, was photographed using a Model 38 Bodyguard to execute a Viet Cong prisoner, Nguyễn Văn Lém, during the Tet Offensive of 1968.

 

[k22fan]

S&W did not advertise their use of scandium aluminum alloys until well into the 1990s. They did not condone the use of +P .38 Special in any aluminum framed revolvers before 1990. I'd be surprised to learn that any of S&W's aluminum frames made before 1990 contain scandium.

During the 1950s S&W made light weight K frames for air crews that in addition to aluminum frames had aluminum cylinders. It was the aluminum cylinders that had to be discontinued and recalled. Might you have read stories about the air crewman revolvers with aluminum cylinders failing and incorrectly believe they were steel cylinder .38s?

 

[Old 44 Guy]

My 638 is rated +-p. No problems after 500 rounds.

 

[crazyphil]

S&Ws model 642 is their most popular and I believe best seller.
I have had mine for going on twenty years. It is stamped .38 Spl +P.
Aluminum alloy. No scandium. Shot lots of +Ps. No cracks.
No problems.

 

[Targets Guy]

My wife's 638-3 is advertised as aluminum alloy with stainless steel barrel and cylinder.